Cataclysmic Variabot
Cataclysmic Variabot, later shortened to C.V., was a robot from Milton Keynes, that fought in both series of Robot Wars Extreme. Having fought and lost in a Mayhem in its first appearance, it represented the Open University in Extreme Series 2 by taking part in the University Challenge, ultimately losing to Tiberius 3 in the second round. Team Variabot also entered the Featherweight Championship of Robot Wars Extreme: Series 2, using their featherweight version of C.V., AM CVn. They later entered the Series 7 Featherweight championship with Cygnus X3. Design Cataclysmic Variabot was a purple box-shaped robot that was two-wheel driven. It had strong armour, but suffered from a low top speed, particularly in Extreme 1, where its top speed was below 8mph. It was notable for incorporating various interchangeable weapon pods, comparable to Plunderbird 1. Across Cataclysmic Variabot's three battles, only one weapon was ever used, this being its pneumatic pickaxe, which used a constant acceleration system. The axe was intended to function as a srimech, but it failed to right the robot when it was overturned. C.V. could also be equipped with a 200 PSI pneumatic flipping arm, and an 18" high pressure spike. If C.V. was equipped with the spike, it became invertible. A 9" cutting disc could also be attached to the rear of Cataclysmic Variabot. In Extreme 1, Cataclysmic Variabot featured a lower and wider design, but it became taller and thinner for Extreme 2, along with internal upgrades. Etymology The name Cataclysmic Variabot was a pun on "Cataclysmic Variable", a type of binary star system containing a white dwarfhttps://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/objects/cvs/cvs.html. This was the field of study for university student and team captain John Barker at the time of Robot WarsJohn Barker on the Team Variabot website. The "Variabot" aspect of the name also refers to the robot's interchangeable weaponry. The name was shortened to simply C.V. in the second series of Extreme, after Robot Wars staff told the team that Cataclysmic Variabot was too long and hard to pronounce. This was no problem to the team, as cataclysmic variables are commonly shortened to 'CV' in their native field of research. The Team CVfullteam.jpg|The complete Team Variabot at Extreme 1 TeamVariabotEx1.jpg|Team Variabot in their Extreme 1 Mayhem TeamVariabotEx2.jpg|Team Variabot in Extreme 2 Cataclysmic Variabot was entered by a team of five students from the Open University, who built the robot with a lot of support from the university. As only three team members could appear on the show, Chris Brockwell and Lisa Blake joined team captain John Barker for Extreme 1, whilst David Lott and Andrew Conway appeared in Extreme 2. Throughout their appearances, the team members dyed purple highlights in their hair to match their robot. The team disbanded shortly after Extreme 2 as most of the students had graduated at this stage, although John Barker would still create a featherweight robot for the Seventh Wars in his own right. Qualification Cataclysmic Variabot never appeared in a main series of Robot Wars, although it attempted to qualify for the Fifth Wars, where it defeated Toe-Cutter 2 in its qualifier, despite the axe not working. Despite winning the battle, Cataclysmic Variabot was not given a place for Series 5, meaning it failed to qualify, only appearing in Extreme instead. Cataclysmic Variabot, now under the name C.V., also attempted to enter Series 6, fighting G-Man, Inshredable and Lazerus in the qualifiers. Inshredable won the battle, and C.V. did not receive a discretionary place, meaning it failed to qualify againRobot Wars Forum, although it still appeared in the second series of Extreme, filmed later that same year. The team did not enter Series 7, as by that time most of the students finished studying and moved on from university, so the team disbanded, though captain John Barker would enter the featherweight Cygnus X3 into the featherweight competitionPrivate correspondence with user User:Drop Zone mk2. Robot History Extreme 1 Cataclysmic Variabot made its first appearance on Robot Wars in a Mayhem battle in Episode 6 of Extreme Series 1, being brought in as a reserve after another robot was forced to withdraw. There, it fought the experienced X-Terminator, as well as Panzer Wraith, another veteran. Cataclysmic Variabot started by driving towards X-Terminator, which also started by driving at Cataclysmic Variabot, but Cataclysmic Variabot fired the axe too early and missed X-Terminator. After this, X-Terminator got at the side of Cataclysmic Variabot and axed it, pinning it down. Panzer Wraith came over and attacked the front of Cataclysmic Variabot with its saw, and X-Terminator rammed Cataclysmic Variabot into Shunt's CPZ. X-Terminator left its opponent for the House Robot, but Shunt missed with his axe. This allowed Cataclysmic Variabot to escape, despite Panzer Wraith briefly driving onto it and cutting into its side with its disc cutter. X-Terminator closed in on Cataclysmic Variabot, and when Cataclysmic Variabot tried to turn to attack, it turned too far and missed with its axe. X-Terminator axed the Open University's machine, hitting the top just by one of the wheels and pulling it back before letting go. X-Terminator quickly came back and axed Cataclysmic Variabot again. X-Terminator reversed, and Panzer Wraith continued to attack the side of Cataclysmic Variabot with its saw. Cataclysmic Variabot fired its axe at thin air and X-Terminator slammed into the axe. Cataclysmic Variabot turned and drove at X-Terminator, but narrowly missed with its axe. X-Terminator's axe punctured the top of Cataclysmic Variabot, and Cataclysmic Variabot began pushing X-Terminator, but X-Terminator pulled back the axe. Meanwhile, Panzer Wraith was attacking the back of Cataclysmic Variabot, driving on top of it a couple of times. X-Terminator left Cataclysmic Variabot, and Panzer Wraith pushed it, cutting into the side with its saw, and slicing through its removable link. Cataclysmic Variabot instantly stopped moving as a result, and Panzer Wraith left it to attack X-Terminator. As Refbot counted Cataclysmic Variabot out, Shunt pushed it onto the floor flipper. X-Terminator pitted Panzer Wraith, then Cataclysmic Variabot was thrown by the floor flipper. Shunt and X-Terminator axed Cataclysmic Variabot, and pushed it into the pit together. As a result, it resoundingly lost the Mayhem to X-Terminator. After the battle had concluded, the Cataclysmic Variabot team offered their removable link to the team behind Panzer Wraith, as their reward for immobilising it during the battle. Extreme 2 Cataclysmic Variabot, renamed C.V., represented the Open University for the University Challenge. In the first round, it went up against Infernal Contraption and favourites to win the competition, Behemoth. C.V. started by turning away from its opponents as Behemoth charged at Infernal Contraption, Behemoth pushed against Infernal Contraption, trying to get the scoop under it and flip it. C.V. got behind Infernal Contraption and pinned it against Behemoth, allowing Behemoth to flip it. Having flipped Infernal Contraption, Behemoth pushed C.V., which tried to axe Behemoth but missed. Behemoth drove around C.V., and although C.V. tried to reverse away before Behemoth could flip, Infernal Contraption blocked it. Behemoth got under the side of C.V. and flipped it over, and C.V. appeared to be unable to right itself, due to the axe not being powerful enough. Fortunately for C.V., Behemoth sportingly righted the struggling machine. As soon as it was righted, C.V. tried to axe Behemoth but Behemoth dodged. The much quicker Behemoth drove around C.V., with C.V. firing its axe a couple of times, missing the first blow but hitting the scoop with the second. This did not affect Behemoth, who rammed C.V. into the CPZ. As it was pushed into the corner, C.V. fired the axe, which got caught behind Behemoth's scoop, and C.V. was actually able to hold Behemoth back as it tried to escape the CPZ as Sir Killalot came in. However, after a push from Sir Killalot, C.V. pulled back the axe, allowing Behemoth to escape. C.V. fired its axe at Sir Killalot, hitting one of the House Robot's arms, but Sir Killalot merely turned, shrugging off the axe, helped by Behemoth ramming into C.V. Suddenly, Behemoth broke down, and Infernal Contraption and C.V. attacked the favourite. C.V.'s axe was caught in Behemoth as Refbot began counting it out, but it managed to get the axe out as the counter hit 10. Whilst Sir Killalot attacked Behemoth, Infernal Contraption continued to fight C.V., hitting it with its drum and flipping it upwards. Both robots were through to Round 2. C.V. then faced the crushing beak of Tiberius 3 in the second round. Tiberius 3 started the quicker, driving towards C.V. and dodging its axe blow. Tiberius 3 pushed against the side of C.V., trying to get underneath, but instead just pushed it against the top arena wall as it couldn't get its wedge underneath. The two robots turned around to face each other, and C.V. fired its axe, but the axe merely slid off the side. C.V. tried firing the axe again, but missed. Tiberius 3 pushed against the front, but still couldn't get its wedge underneath. C.V. hit the top of Tiberius 3, but the axe failed to puncture. Tiberius 3 reversed and turned around for another attack. After driving around C.V., Tiberius 3 pushed it towards the CPZ, but then backed off. C.V. charged at Tiberius 3 and fired the axe, which merely slid down the back, and Tiberius 3 turned around, dodging C.V.'s next axe blow. Tiberius 3 tried to get under the side of C.V., but C.V. turned and fired the axe, which punctured the top of Tiberius 3. Tiberius 3 drove down the arena, dragging C.V. with it, then turned around and brought its crusher down on the top of C.V. However, the crusher did not pierce, as the wedge was not underneath C.V. to provide leverage. C.V. retracted its axe, and Tiberius 3 got at the side of C.V., pushing the Open University representative down the arena, towards the pit release button. As the two robots got close, C.V. reversed into the button, but this allowed Tiberius 3 to get its wedge under it. The Loughborough University representative grabbed C.V. and pulled it back, before turning it towards the pit and pushing it down. Tiberius 3 went through to the final, and C.V. was eliminated. This was C.V.'s last appearance on Robot Wars. Results |} |} Wins/Losses *Wins: 1 *Losses: 2 Series Record CVprototype.jpg|The prototype of Cataclysmic Variabot TeamwithPrototype.jpg|Team Variabot, with a prototype of Cataclysmic Variabot CVframe.jpg|The empty frame of Cataclysmic Variabot, early in construction CVframe2.jpg|Cataclysmic Variabot during construction CVconstruction.jpg|Cataclysmic Variabot with unpainted top armour during construction CV Saw.jpg|The circular saw that could be applied to C.V. CV Flipper.jpg|C.V., equipped with its flipping arm Teamcv.jpg|C.V. with AM CVn Outside Robot Wars Son of Variabot.jpg|Son of Variabot, the team's entry in the Techno Games rope climbing competition SonOfVariabot.jpg|Son of Variabot climbs the rope in Techno Games squeeky.jpg|Squeeky, the team's Techno Games Micromouse entry CV 2019.jpg|Front view of C.V. in December 2019 C v 2019.jpg|CV from the back in 2019 Cv ebay2019.jpg|CV from above in 2019 CV internals.jpg|C.V.'s internals in December 2019 The team also entered the 2003 series of Techno Games, with two robots. The first was Son of Variabot, a pneumatically powered rope climbing robot, and the second was Squeeky, a robotic mouse that would navigate mazes. Son of Variabot competed in the Natural Rope Climb, but lost in the first round to RC-1, taking 53.85 seconds compared to its opponent's world record-breaking 8.06 secondsTechno Games 2003, Episode 8. Despite this, the time was good enough to reach the Semi-Finals, only to lose again, with Climb-actic winning in a world record breaking 3.72 seconds, whilst Son of Variabot took 1 minute, 12.54 secondsTechno Games 2003, Episode 9. In the Micro Mouse Wall Following event, Squeeky failed to reach the final, so was not seen on televisionTechno Games 2003, Episode 7. In January 2020, C.V. was sold on eBay for £350C.V.'s eBay auction page. However, the winning bidder later revealed they could not collect the robot, so John Barker instead decided to keep C.V. and repair it to fighting conditionPrivate correspondence with user User:Drop Zone mk2. Trivia *Cataclysmic Variabot is the only robot to appear in both series of Robot Wars Extreme, but not appear in any main championship, UK or otherwise. *Cataclysmic Variabot and Killertron are the only axebots to defeat Behemoth, who would triumph over at least five in its career. *In Extreme Series 2, C.V. was labelled as a newcomer despite appearing in the first series of Extreme. *Both of Cataclysmic Varabot's three way melees were against a former semi-finalist and an invertible robot with a spinning weapon. *Both of Cataclysmic Variabot's appearances were in the same episode as Behemoth. References External Links *Team Variabot website (archived) Category:UK Series competitors Category:Extreme only competitors Category:Robots with more Losses than Wins Category:Robots from Greater London Category:Robots from Schools or Universities Category:Robots with Spiked Axes/Picks Category:Robots with Circular Saws Category:Robots with Interchangeable Weapons Category:Invertible Robots Category:Robots with acronyms for names Category:Competitors in Techno Games Category:Robots to never have a judges' decision Category:Substitute Robots Category:Robots with Rear-hinged Flippers Category:Robots which debuted in Extreme 1 Category:Robots with puns for names Category:Articles in need of images Category:Robots with astronomical names